Friday, December 4, 2015

Go to Southern Living Magazine's site or see the November issue for two articles where I got to be a "super model"! Ha

I am the blue in the background behind the mugs in our kitchen
and the VANNA HANDS in this article about great gift ideas for the garden.

Also shown are some shots of Van and Missy Nevill Crawford doing some styling for an upcoming shoot in the spring around our pool.

Everything about what goes into the magazines that we read goes through such an extensive process, with the first spark being an idea around a conference table and growing into a finished "ah ha!" moment on a bright sunny day. It takes a huge team of professionals to pull it all off.

A few years ago, a boy was too busy to make it out for a
blind date with a girl.

After talking to her long distance by chat, text, phone, he
decided he had to see her. Convincing
his parents who were on their way to the town where she lived to drop him off
at her house for the weekend, he arrived at her doorstep, a sleeping bag and
pillow in hand.

I don’t recall the exact way it was told at the Rehearsal
Dinner but I think it went down like this.
As he stood there, a surprise to this girl and her college room mates,
he waved to his parents over his shoulder with a huge grin, “This is Lauren. I
am going to meet her parents this weekend, then another weekend you are going
to get to know her and some day we are going to be married!”

They dated a couple of years and the celebration of their
lives together was this weekend in Rosemary Beach, Florida.

My husband and two daughters (7 and 17) followed the flutter
of love set forth in their college days and headed to Rosemary beach for their
wedding. Getting to know his family, in
the brief moments we had around them, was something magical. To meet Will you
can only grin from ear to ear. I don’t recall seeing him not smiling, and
hugging people, and sticking his arm out to say “I’m Will!” to anyone and
everyone he saw.

Toasts from their friends were all upbeat, magical, kind,
genuinely all about the magic of their love.
The preacher who married them had been waiting for this day since he was
a child. His humor and pure joy for the occasion sent waves of chuckles
throughout the weekend.

A toast was made by an elderly couple, briefly strangers,
who met Will on an airplane on his way back from Argentina where he works as a
hunting guide.

“I’m getting married,” he told them.

The gentleman whom I would guess is in his seventies gleamed
as he and his wife stood to toast Will.
“This boy whom I met for only hours but felt like I knew him my whole
life told me about Lauren on the ride home. It sounded like such a magical
union. “

Will’s answer was, “You should come. I’ll send you a ticket!”

And that is how the little northern couple too were sucked
up into the love current started back in college by a boy with a big heart and
a girl who won it with her brains, beauty and love of hunting.

And everywhere we were, stories of Will and Lauren drifted
across the wind. Her college friends from Rhodes, her roommates from Auburn,
and some from Graduate School at Vanderbilt all meshed together in a tail wind
of excitement spurred by the birth of a little girl whose daddy taught her how
to hunt and fish and her mama who loved to shop with her and ski and do all the
things boys like for girls to do with them while looking “fabulous”.

While her parents are no longer married, the love in her
heart and the love they have for her brought them to a moment where they could
stand together, for her, with her. The
toast Carson made was not about him…but how “your mother and I feel about the
blessing that you are”.

Love is the ultimate goal in life. It is the most important
of all of the messages that God left for us here on earth.

The couple didn’t say “we are in love”.

They ARE love. Their eyes showed it, their hugs showed it. There was no need for words.

In a time when the world seems tiny and meaningless for so
many as it crumbles around us and hate rises up, we are reminded on a beach in
a small town of Rosemary that there are great new beginnings being formed.
There are messages floating along the sands and waves shouting out to perhaps a
couple who was there who re-kindled a stale relationship, or a stranger who
watched from beyond the dunes who dreamed of one day having such a blessed marriage.

Yes, there were butterfly effects going on all around us in
Rosemary.

My seven year old watched it all. Perhaps the effect she sees will be with her
forever as she aspires for true love.
She was so excited to help hand out the rosemary that would shower the
bride and groom as they rolled off in
their antique thunderbird convertible. Rosemary symbolizes love, remembrance,
friendship and truth ~ something they will take into a new life, a new world, where
laced into an even more powerful strand, I have no doubt that they will send
tornadoes of hope across the world.

I can feel them now in Belize~ landing on a soft beach,
speaking of love, toasting to their future, perhaps sparking a small wave, a
breeze of what is to come across the planet where we are, just as we are soaking
in and simply remembering the first wave.

Cheers and congratulations to you for touching my life and
reminding me how precious my sweet husband is and how blessed I am with my children.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

The past month I have been a part of the happYmess quest to get all of my media frenzy in order. I am a habitual blogger, website starter, facebook poster, frequent frenzy tweeter and Mitzi Jane Media has provided me with so much happYmess to explore that my head might just bust open!

Follow her on Facebook to get highlights and find when the next conference will occur!

As for now, I am pecking away doing a bit of happYmess housekeeping. Here are a few of the baby steps I have achieved this week:

Began the happYmessLIFE BLOG (still in progress...thanks for checking in with me)

Began the happYmessLIFE facebook page

Made a notebook grid of all of my "identities" and sites that I have scattered across the world wide web with columns to connect the many emails to the entity with which they speak to one another.

(YES I should simplify..but one of those email addresses I have had since I was in college...perhaps I am a virtual junkie!)

Updated my Linked In Account...sorry all of you who just use Linked In...I still don't get it..perhaps because most of you are on the "morning cycle".

I have embraced my creative inner clock..thus Linked In is not working too well for me!

Pinterest...I have formed a happYmess pinterest account and plan to privitize my personal account in many areas....until the workshop I had no idea it was for followings...I thought I was using it to stash great ideas for me to use only! Don't be buying up the horses I have pinned! It is my goal to own a flock of them! a herd of them....I have updated my bloGSSSSSS....and thought long and hard about where to go from here. We'll see about that.I have updated my new website that I build myself.....which is FLASH so web crawlers do not find it...but it was easy...free from WIX.com and I love the graphics. SOOOOO..re-evaluating that.www.allisonpadams.comPlease check it out and give me feedback! It was a hair wrenching project where I had goals to finish it in my journal a year ago today! I arrived at the conference and had my doors blown by the fact that WORDPRESS is THE way to go...by the way...it and blogger are in with GOOGLE. Thus the ease in searches.WHO KNEW? Wish I had a year ago! And TWITTER....wow...the value of the conference went through the roof when I learned about a little ap I can add to my phone and IPAD MINI to post and schedule tweets called HOOTSuite! Thanks to Julie Brannon with TELP Media I have been humming the little lollypop song associated with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang all day....It is a life saver if you are a multiple personality media person like myself!And THANK YOU to Rachel Callahan, blogger of graspingforobjectivity.com and active blogger leader of alabamabloggers.com ,who made me feel like a creative spirit again instead of a whistle in a square business hole. The session before was the technical stuff I love to know but hate to do~ google analytics, search engine optimization. She freed me to blog on what I love in random order, all with handy bars at the top so the reader can pick what they want instead of wading. She is still telling me that Wordpress is the best way to achieve that. I'll be sifting that through my brain after I get back from vacation next week. But so far....Wordpress keeps wrestling me to the ground!Don't get me wrong Jerry Brown (with InfoMedia), your information was invaluable....it just had my creative self in a tail-spin for a day or two. There happens to be ONE MORE SESSION! On Monday night, April 29 at 5:30 we will wrap up the month with Maximizing Your Online Productivity with Emily Lowery and the Top Ten Take Aways for Small Businesses with seminar maestro Mitzi Eaker.IF YOU ARE CURIOUS, IT IS NOT TOO LATE....Contact Mitzi at the link for MJM STRENGTH Conference to see how you can be a fly on the wall to catch the information buzzing out on 280! She has a one time admission price under $40 bucks.You won't be disappointed! If for any other reason than to GET ON THE LIST TO SIGN UP FOR THE NEXT ONE~Hoping to MAKE MORE SENSE TO MY FOLLOWERS (because you know I usually, truthfully just write for myself!) about music, writing, art, fashion fun, fluff! design ideas and all that my life leads me to! I love to share....I love to write....I was born to BLOG!Thanks Mitzi for turning my sprinkler into a smooth flowing water hose...at least that is the GOAL :)Blessings!Allison Adams

After all, we all made it through the doom and gloom of the end of the world at the end of 2012!

CELEBRATE THAT!

Last year was the year for my painting evolution. I took some great workshops through local and regional outlets.

@pauljackson @alabamaartsupply @kellienewsom @nancunningham @forstallartcenter
(even google evolving where these are supposed to link to these artists~ who knows! but hey, I am up for big changes and new adventures, even if on my blog!

In 2013 I explored @seejanewrite the blog a day for 30 days and made it with a few "multi blogs" along the way! Thanks @javaciabowers @seejanetweet

SET A GOAL, ANY GOAL AND SEE WHERE IT LEADS YOU!
It doesn't have to be life changing! Just something to help you stretch and grow!

Here is a GREAT one!
Anyone with a camera on their phone can do it! And be sure to tweet it to me
at #artallie on Twitter!

Barton G was the personal chef for Versace. Next time you go to Miami
find this quaint restaurant tucked on a side street among gardens and find a corner table beneath the twinkling lights in the trees.

Or better yet, stay in tonight and get creative! Find a bucket and fill it with ice cream, candy bars and top it with POP ROCKS! Your kids will love you for it!

Meanwhile, I am scrambling around in all of the buckets in my garage for any sign of you.
Panic is setting in as I am remembering that you were last spotted
in Colorado last year as we spent the week out there....
At least I am thinking you graced our presence there!

but I really am not sure.

And I am remembering you weren't that REGULAR easy to find ELF-is
(the name my daughter continues to call you, in her letters, on notes by her bed)....

So I ask, WHY on a holiday FILLED with plenty to do,
do we pack on another thing to coordinate?

Yes I know, he does it all himself! But hey! He DOES NOT CLEAN UP!

Parents need the ELF THAT DOES GOOD DEEDS AROUND THE HOUSE
fueled by KIDS WITH HUGE HEARTS AND APPRECIATION for
what PARENTS do!

And at Christmas, the time we should be remembering Jesus,
we have a TREE to get and decorate (I have to say it is my favorite thing!)

Does the Christmas tree have anything to do with Jesus?

And then there is that dude, Santa~
who really has little to do with the reason for the season~
and possibly evolved from Father Christmas riding a goat!

As I wrap up this blog post with all of the new knowledge I have about this season
we call Christmas Time~
I am relieved that as new events evolve, new traditions are introduced,
I am reminded that

the most special reason for this season is LOVE~ the GREATEST gift of all...

and with that, the satisfaction of family member's joy as
they open their gifts, as they sip hot cocoa beneath a beautifully decorated tree filled with
hundreds of little mementos that remind us of great times together,
of the rare beautifully thought out cards we still receive from friends near and far,
of the angel trees with wishes still being fulfilled, of the churches singing praises
to our king.

We anticipate the giggles when they open the fridge to find
(hopefully by FRIDAY according to my Amazon.com elf package tracking!)
not only that Christopher Lumpkis or POPKINS
or whatever version of the ELF that we can't find LOCALLY

but his new friend (YES THERE IS A FEMALE ONE NOW)

CHANDA BELL!

based on her CREATOR. (an author loves a good success story now~)

all cozied up in the cream cheese.

Move over Rudolph!
Elf on the Shelf even has an event NEXT WEEK
so you can make him a HOUSE
DECEMBER 18 at the library in Crestline!

Welcome to the ALLISON ADAMS ARTIST BLOG

I am an ultra-preneur. I've tried the "doing one thing" and it just doesn't fit in with my HappYmess attitude.

So you will find multiple BLOGS for Allison Adams,

multiple pages of information about the

Interior Designer (my major) / REAL Estate BROKER

(have owned two companies, one in Montgomery (partner) and one on the Alabama Gulf Coast)

I still dabble in real estate, manage timberland/ hunting property with our family, and a favorite book in college

was "HOUSE-WISE" where I dreamed of investing in and renovating properties.

I use those passions as a backdrop for my CREATIVE ENDEAVORS.

My husband, Chad Adams, is a CPA and in the Mortgage Banking Business with SouthPoint Bank, so it all rolls together.

But one day, as is the dream with ALL ARTISTS, the CREATIVE part of my soul will feed the dragon that is life!

All around I am feeling the butterfly effect of all of the inspirations and muses in my life that started within the walls of my playhouse as a child, where I would decorate using the sears catalog, teach classes I made up to my little sister and neighbors, and make up songs and draw. I would watch my aunt paint beautiful abstract creations in an historical home with hot pink walls.

Some might know me as the:

Writer- Author of four books:

two I self published over 12 years ago before POD existed, started my own Publishing Company- The Oaks Publishing Co. -Montgomery, AL. (Southern XYZ's Alabama Edition and A Gathering of Angels A-Z with illustrations by Donna Jones).

I was amazed to find as I am writing this post and searched for the Alabama book that there are some available! I though I had tossed them all! But LOW AND BEHOLD...

with one of my watercolor illustrations of the train depot included along with 50 other artists. (Indigo Publishing, Ga.)

Most recently I have tried the POD route, with The 12 Days of Christmas Giving. I am so excited about this book~ the Children are given 12 presents under the tree to GIVE AWAY. The BLOG has a live reading by my daughter of the book by the fire.

Don't hesitate to email me if you would like to host a book signing for 2013! We are scheduling now to release the E-book this season.

After a "name change" and dragging around the remainder of the original 5000 Alabama and Angel books (since 1997) I finally got rid of most of them. I was publisher/warehouse mgr/personal service mgr. (everyone got a signed copy :) I sold those through the Furniture and Gift temporary markets in Atlanta and Chicago so can advise you an any method of book publishing and production.

With POD, (I used XLIBRIS) I happily embrace the "set it up online, we get it available in Barnes/Noble/ BAM) you order your copies at cost...if you need a word change..it is DONE on the next copy that goes out. A remarkable idea.

Did I mention that shortly after the BIRMINGHAM SKETCHBOOK hardback came to print with artwork from over 50 artists who did book signings and promotions with me to no avail, the book went out of distribution as the publisher moved on to other projects and stopped being involved with it.

I do still have aspirations of a New York traditionally published book~ and that one is in the works. But the world is changing as fast in book production as in the music business so we will see!

Magazine Editor: The SOUL Editor position was my favorite. Interviews for cover stories with remarkable people: LeAnn Rimes, Emily Proctor, Christina Hendrix (Mad Men), Patti Hall (The Little Zoo that Could), Heather Johnston (JH Ranch- their remarkable Israel connection), and the incredible Debbie Reynolds who told her publicist "I can't believe I told her all of that!" I feel certain I will be doing that again. I am a woman who loves a goal and a deadline and I delivered every time.

I have held a number of small groups and artist round tables where we get together each week with other artists to keep it fresh. See a glimpse of that at www.highlandartists.blogspot.com

As we age, we ease into the WHY NOT attitude...although I have to say I have been an independent spirit since I was 5. Approaching 50 has pushed me into 4 wheel drive as I embark on all of the goals I have dragged around in journals all these years.

IT IS NOW OR NEVER!

A few years ago we attempted my husband's dream to own a seafood restaurant..that is until the BP crisis.

I used my art to raise awareness of the situation there but we have both decided it is a BIG check off the old bucket list~

and after living there 24~7 we are not sure WHY anyone wants to be THAT happy...

restaurants are bizarre animals..

and it takes a special person to make it work.

Our food however, even after one year was ranked best crabcake in Birmingham and the reviews were great until the price of seafood (oysters at $60/gal) for our gumbo~

(and scared customers of the gulf safety) had us selling BEACH BURGERS (which also had rave reviews)

But it became farther AWAY FROM THE VERY VISION WE HAD FOR THE PLACE...to bring fresh seafood right off the boats from where we lived on the Alabama Gulf Coast prior to coming to Birmingham to here.

So as of June 1, 2010,

Crestline Seafood Company is HISTORY.

Just for fun feel free to check out the history and look at the juicy photos of the food my husband prepares.

I will MISS having seared succulent tuna bathed in ginger wasabi every week..and salmon..grouper, flounder!

I must say the waistline has expanded since we include more steaks (which I love and Chad can make a mean one of) but hey, a girl has gotta eat!

Thinking now is a good time to blog about fitness and healthy eating. He is actually on a walk now as his blood pressure (I'm saying a result of BP and stress of all the filings and what goes with that) is high as a cat's back! ~ he has still not resolved that issue after 2 1/2 yrs with BP) which has certainly not helped his health.

I am still evolving and was blessed with skinny legs. It's the area in the middle I am going to have to blog away! That is what I love about blogging...it is REAL LIFE!

And every day I find new things to explore, learn and do!

We don't have much time on this earth, even though sometimes it seems like we think we can live forever!

There was the convertible phase (twice)...the Harley (rode the twisteys of Bristol, TN) and the Gulf Coast Rides.

Then there was the Allegro Bus we had to get to experience Talladega the way it should be experienced. Tony Stewart was once in our hunting camp so I thought I would give it a whirl. Came to find the pits are hot...no tank tops so I survived 110 degree heat with a leather jacket to cover my shoulders. Ah,

the things you learn when you delve into life.

Now we appear to be fading into a phase of horses.

After eight years in Mt. Brook Alabama we are living on Lake Tuscaloosa~ with our children and our Doberman~ Samson, Pomeranian~ Cocoa (Chanel..Loco...Puff ~ depends on the moment) and a cat who now we just call "Pooter".

I have more things to achieve and learn, like parking the boat! We switched from Lake Martin to be closer to my old stomping grounds in Sumter County, Alabama. I look forward to spending more time with nature in Eutaw, Jefferson, Boligee and Livingston.

My oldest is at BAMA studying Jazz and the "middle child" bringing up the middle with her own talents playing guitar and singing, as is Chad's daughter and we are starting again with a seven year old who is the "typical fourth child" and gets me up after she gets dressed in the morning.

Somehow we were blessed in the musical pool, at least

the kids were. I am still carrying around a catalog of poems I call "songs in the works" but haven't been able to get them tweaked my my master producer son...YET.

The writing...I can handle on my own.

Here you will find blogs that are about love, life, music, art, writing, seminars, people I admire, and hopefully not much about those I don't.

Life is short, gotta live it, learn it and form our own version

of happYmess!

May you look at life as a child does and always enjoy the little things!